Philippe Chatrier

Philippe Chatrier, who has died at the age of 72, was a man of passion and complexity, whose visionary influence helped transform the world of professional tennis. First, as president of the French Tennis Federation, and later as leader of the international body, he brought a rare blend of pragmatic commercialism and idealistic values to a sport he played at a high standard himself.

By the time Chatrier made his bid for power, he had been French junior champion, played at Wimbledon and been a member of the French Davis Cup squad. Such was his energy that he founded Tennis de France magazine while working as a sports editor for a Paris newspaper. In his spare time, he ran an old boys rugby team that played a Press XV on the eve of Five Nation internationals. He was also involved in the archaic world of tennis politics, soon realising that the old guard would have to go if any progress was to be made.

In 1968, Chatrier engineered a situation whereby a political ally, the former French champion Marcel Bernard, was elected president of the federation for a four-year period. In that time he marshalled his forces, and completed the coup by getting himself elected as Bernard's successor. Unlike virtually all other amateur leaders of national federations, Chatrier was able to turn the post into a full-time job because he received money in the form of a trust from his magazine.

One of his first tasks was the renovation of the decaying complex at Roland Garros, which had been used briefly as a holding depot for Jewish prisoners during the second world war. Going directly to President Pompidou, he asked for £10m - and got it. Within a few years, he had also won permission to take over a couple of adjacent rugby fields, so that the complex could be doubled in size. When he assumed control of French tennis, there were 100,000 registered players and 500 clubs. Two decades later, the figures had leapt to 1.5m players and 10,000 clubs.

By then, Chatrier had become a major player on the international stage, as tennis struggled to come to terms with its new open status. He had also become very close to the professionals, who had been banned from the mainstream game before Wimbledon's Herman David forced the issue of open tennis in 1968. Jack Kramer, leader of the professional troupe, was to become a lifelong friend, as was Tony Trabert, another Wimbledon champion, who set up an office in Paris in the 60s.

It was during long meetings with Kramer, and one of the game's first agents, Donald Dell, that Chatrier poured over futuristic plans at his apartment on the Avenue des Ternes. There, one evening in 1969, Kramer laid out his blueprint for a grand prix circuit, while Chatrier's wife, the former British Wightman Cup player, Susan Partridge, served us all with drinks. The grand prix became the basis of the points-linked, world-wide circuit that is now incorporated into the ATP Tour.

Chatrier found the international federation less malleable. Far-flung presidents of small associations, who all had a vote, made for slow progress; Chatrier used to joke about how long it took "to get my elephants into line". Nevertheless, he worked tirelessly throughout the political battles of the 70s and 80s, chairing innumerable pro-council meetings, as he tried to balance the needs of an expanding professional sport with the ideals of the amateur game that were always close to his heart.

Along with his general secretary David Gray, the former tennis correspondent of the Guardian, he championed the cause of tennis returning to the Olympics, and was elected a member of the IOC in 1991.

Chatrier was an introspective man, who frequently seemed remote. He was also, however, a gregarious and charming host, whose brisk manner was softened by a ready humour. He was an excellent public speaker in French or English, and it was, sadly, at a dinner in Toulouse in 1991 that the first signs of his illness became apparent.

When he rose to speak, it suddenly became evident that he was losing the thread. His words were punctuated by 15 or 20 seconds of silence. It was so unlike Philippe that there were murmurs of incomprehension at our table afterwards. Alzheimer's disease would soon force him to step down from the the ITF presidency after an unprecedented tenure of 14 years.

After the dissolution of his marriage to Susan, with whom he had two sons, he married Claudine Cros, a leading French golfer, who nursed him when he retired to Brittany. Chatrier was one of the outstanding sports administrators of his age. Imbued with the Aquarian trait of wanting to change the world, he undoubtedly changed the world of tennis.

Philippe Chatrier, sports administrator, born February 2 1928; died June 22 2000